60 million people lose their sight to glaucoma
Only 87 per cent of people believe regular testing is important despite 85 per cent of them being afraid to lose their sight.
“GLAUCOMA is a very dangerous disease,” said Pretty Mlaba, a Verulam resident who suffers from glaucoma. “If you don’t treat it you will end up going blind,” she said.
This week (March 12 – 18) is World Glaucoma Week and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health held an event to raise awareness about the eye disease on Tuesday 14 March at McCord Provincial Hospital, Overport.
Mlaba said that she was diagnosed in 2008 with glaucoma and that the foremost message she has for patients is that it is very important that they accept it. “Acceptance is the main key. You need to accept yourself and feel free to talk about it. You don’t have to hide because this is yourself you can’t change it.”
A global survey conducted by the multinational pharmaceutical company, Novartis, said that only 33 per cent of people polled, regularly get eye tested. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness internationally with about 60 million people being affected by it. Despite 85 per cent of the people surveyed saying they were scared to lose their sight, only 54 per cent of them were familiar with glaucoma. Of those surveyed, 87 per cent believed regular eye testing is important.
Glaucoma is an eye disease where a person loses their vision due to a build up of pressure within the eye that damages the optic nerve. There is no cure for it and treatment aims to stave off sight loss. It is known to professionals as the silent thief of sight because it often develops without any symptoms.
Mlaba, who has had several eye operations to prevent her from being permanently blind said, “When I heard that I have glaucoma and I noticed that I was losing my sight I started getting stronger through my faith. At first I didn’t know what was going on and I used to ask my family where I went wrong. I’ve learnt a lot from my support group. People, especially those who have been diagnosed with it, make sure that you get more information about it. You need to know about glaucoma so that you can tell people about it.”
